Little Dresses for Africa has an amazing story that continues to astound Rachel O’Neil, the founder, and many of us who follow her mission.Beginning as a grass roots effort in 2008 with a goal to take 1000 pillowcase dresses for little girls to a single village in Africa, Little Dresses for Africa has grown to numbers well over 4.5 MILLION. Little dresses and Britches for Boys are currently sent to 81 countries in and around Africa, plus Central American countries. Collection and distribution points are now found all around the globe, changing lives here and across the ocean. One of those distribution points is Nancy’s Notions.

The Sewing With Nancy and Nancy’s Notions Connection

In 2011, I first interviewed Rachel O’Neil on Sewing With Nancy. After watching and hearing Rachel’s compelling story, many of you went through your fabric stash and started sewing. Nancy’s Notions soon became a distribution point, collecting and then shipping thousands of dresses or britches in just a few years. To date, 167,646 dresses or britches have been sent to Little Dresses for Africa. Thank you!

Nancy’s Notions collects several thousand dresses, then makes a shipment to Little Dresses for Africa. Dresses and britches are organized by sizes and categories by a great group of volunteers. Our sewing community is extremely generous!

Photos from Little Dresses for Africa’s yearly trip

A New Little Dresses for Africa Pattern

Ms. Lillian Weber from Iowa had a goal to make 1000 Little Dresses For Africa by the time she turned 100. She made and surpassed her goal, making 1,234 dresses before passing away on the eve of her 101st birthday.

One of Ms. Lillian’s favorite styles of dresses to sew included raglan sleeves—a pattern given to her by Geraldine Lowery. We have adapted these directions and included them in a FREE pattern project sheet.Download the FREE pattern project sheet HERE.

Note from Nancy: The illustration above will create a dress in one single fabric. Consider cutting two dresses at a time, of coordinating fabrics, to mix and match sleeve and ruffle pattern pieces with their coordinating dress body pattern pieces.

Cut two of each pattern piece by placing patterns on the double-folded edge of fabric.

Place ruffle pattern on the double-folded edge of fabric TWICE, cutting a total of four (4) ruffle sections.

Create Bias Tape

Following the directions on the bias tape maker, feed the bias cut strip into the tape maker.

Press the strip as it comes out the narrow end; edges folded toward the center.

Finish the Neckline and Sleeves

Unfold one edge of the bias tape and pin to the dress neckline opening starting at center back. The bias tape forms casing for elastic.

Carefully pin around the curved edges.

Use the fold as a guide; stitch the bias tape to the neckline with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Leave the first and last 2″ unstitched.

Fold the unstitched portions of tape onto themselves, making their folds meet. Press.

Open the unstitched tape, match right sides together and pin.

Join the tape ends by stitching directly on the pressed mark.

Use a rotary cutter to remove the excess seam allowance; 1/4″ past the stitching line.

Press the new seam allowance open.

Join the unstitched portion of tape to the dress body.

Press seam allowances towards tape, pressing tape up.

Press the bias tape to the wrong side of the neckline.

Note from Nancy: Notice, on the left-hand side of the bias tape (pictured below), you can see a small amount of the dress body fabric. This is called favoring the seam and creates a more professional finish to the neckline edge. The bias tape will be completely concealed.

Unfold the bias tape edge.

Clip into the seam allowances at the curves to allow the tape to lay flat once finished.

Working from the wrong side, edgestitch the bias tape.

Leave a 2″ opening at the center back edge.

Unfold the pressed sleeve hem.

Stitch front to back, right sides together, using a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Press seam allowance open.

Refold and topstitch the sleeve hems.

Using the bodkin elastic tool, glide the 1/4″ elastic through the bias tape casing at the center back opening.

Use a piece of scrap fabric to join the elastic cut ends. This reduces bulk.

Zigzag stitch over each elastic cut end, where they meet.

Trim excess fabric.

Gently stretch the neckline to ease the narrow elastic into the opening.

Note from Nancy: I like to use Fuse ‘n Gather Tape for gathering. The results are fast and easy to accomplish. Press Fuse ‘n Gather, with blue threads facing up, to the top edge on the wrong side of the ruffle fabric. Pull blue threads to gather.

Divide the bottom of the dress into quarters, placing a pin to mark at each quarter mark.

Divide the ruffle into quarters, placing a pin to mark at each quarter mark.

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17 Comments

M B PazdernikAugust 10, 2016

Hi Nancy,
On the second page of the pattern the numbered illustrations do not match up with the numbered steps. But other than that, this pattern is so cute and a nice change from the pillowcase dress when you are trying to make a lot of them.

Nancy ZiemanAugust 10, 2016

Hi MB,
The illustration numbers are referenced at the end of the instruction sentences [inside the parenthesis (1)]. The illustration numbering does not relate to the step-by-step numbering. Feel free to email with additional questions info@ziemanproductions.com
Nancy

Donna WilsonAugust 9, 2016

Ms Lillian Weber is quite an inspiration for all of us! Even if a person doesn’t sew, Ms Lillian showed us how having a goal can lead to much success. And you are never “too old”.

At the top of the Free Pattern Instructions you can download and/or print, the size is given as “…one size 6 dress – the size
most often requested.”
I bet there are size charts available on line to size up or down.
These are adorable, loose fitting dresses, so small additions in circumference and varying additions in length would be sure to fit some child who would love this dress! Smaller would be even easier.
Is the britches pattern available, also ?

Hi, Nancy.
I’m not much of a sewer, but joined in on a sewing bee at a church nearby, and was ‘bitten with the bug’ to start a group at our church. We are just a small number of ladies (most of us aren’t real sewers), that get together periodically. Our dresses go off to Zambia with the Seeds of Hope ministry to children affected by AIDS. I’ve just downloaded the new dress pattern and will also get the Britches for Boys one, so we can branch out a little at our next sewing bee.
Thanks, Nancy, for bringing this ministry to our attention.
Bless you. I’ll continue to pray for your good health.

Joan

Joan GagnonAugust 9, 2016

Please send an address to where these dresses can be send and is there a deadline or is this ongoing?

This past Spring our church sent over 200 dresses with our team that went to Haiti.

Barbara LussierAugust 9, 2016

What size does this pattern make? How would I adjust the pattern to make various sizes?

LindaBAugust 9, 2016

I’m confused about the drafting of the pattern. In my mind, the math doesn’t add up. It states that you are to tape 2 pieces of paper together along the 8 1/2 inch edges. So I’m assuming you are referring to standard size printing paper which is 8 1/2 x 11 inches.

If you are taping them along the short edge, that will give you a total length of 22 inches. But the width will remain at 8 1/2 inches.

You now have a total paper size of 8 /12 x 22 inches.

How can you cut a rectangle of 10 inches by 19 inches when you only have a width of 8 1/2 inches?

Even if I tape the 2 pieces of paper along the long edge, I would get a total paper size of 11 x 17 inches. Still not a big enough piece of paper to cut a rectangle 10 x 19 inches.

Dress Body:

Tape two pieces of paper together along the 8-1/2″ edges.
Draft a rectangle measuring 10″ x 19″.
Along the top edge, measure 5-1/4″ from the left edge; make a mark.
Along the right hand edge, measure up 14″; make a mark.
Connect the two marks and add a 1/4″ seam allowance to the diagonal sleeve line.
Cut away the corner.
Along the remaining 19″ edge, write on the pattern piece ”Place on Fold” and “Cut two on fold.”